Blanka Zizka News

On October 23 & 24, Persona, a new opera from composer Keeril Makan and adaptor / librettist / director Jay Scheib, will make its world premiere at National Sawdust. Commissioned by Beth Morrison Projects and National Sawdust, and adapted by Scheib from Ingmar Bergman's film of the same name, Persona is a provocative, highly cerebral, and artistically complex depiction of human frailty, cruelty and identity. These world premiere performances—which represent the first opera staged at National Sawdust—feature music direction by Evan Ziporyn and music by the ensemble Either/Or.

The Wilma Theater is honored to welcome back Attis Theater Artistic Director Theodoros Terzopoulos (AJAX the madness, co-presented with FringeArts in 2013), who will lead eight Philadelphia actors and three Attis actors in creating an original adaptation of Sophocles' Antigone. This production, which Terzopoulos has adapted from an English translation by Marianne McDonald, merges a physically rigorous methodology with a classical text, and is performed in both English and ancient Greek by an international ensemble. A project initially inspired by a New Yorker essay about the aftermath of the Boston Marathon bombing, Antigone invites conversation around moral, religious, and political dilemmas regarding the unburied dead.

Six theatre directors will participate in the third Sundance Institute | LUMA Foundation Theatre Directors Retreat in Arles, France, July 31 through August 12. The Retreat is part of the Institute's year-round work with the theatre community and is one of 24 residency Labs the Institute hosts each year for independent artists in theatre, film, new media and episodic content.

Stage Directors and Choreographers Foundation (SDCF) opened the nomination process for The Zelda Fichandler Award on June 1, 2015. This award is unrestricted grant of $5000 to an outstanding director or choreographer making an exceptional contribution to the national arts landscape through theatre work in a particular region. In 2015, the award will honor achievement in the Western region, comprised of Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming.

In Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead, which will mark the Wilma's 11th production of a work by Tom Stoppard, minor characters take center stage as they journey on a boat taking Prince Hamlet to England with players from the royal court. As these characters unknowingly sail to a fate Shakespeare has already scripted for them, arguments of free will and determinism abound, all set to the constant travel game of flipping coins. In this battle of wits, Stoppard's characteristic wordplay and case of mistaken identities create a spectacle that's philosophical, clownish, and complete with a pirate-ambush.

The Wilma Theater has announced the four plays that will make up its upcoming 2015/16 Season. The Wilma will open the season with Sophocles' Antigone translated by Marinanne McDonald and directed by Theodorus Terzopoulos, the renowned founder of Attis Theatre in Athens, Greece.

The Wilma Theater has announced that due to popular demand William Shakespeare's Hamlet has been extended through May 2, 2015.

The Wilma will produce what many believe to be the greatest play written by Shakespeare, and many others consider the greatest play written in the English language.

The Wilma will produce what many believe to be the greatest play written by Shakespeare, and many others consider the greatest play written in the English language. The fight for the throne of Denmark, quest for moral righteousness, and complexities of vengeance will be reexamined on our stage with resonances to contemporary society. The title character in Shakespeare's tragedy will be played by the powerful actress Zainab Jah, who appeared as Prudence in last season's production of The Convert. Immediately following Hamlet, the Wilma will stage Tom Stoppard's now classic behind-the-scenes comedy Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead, both directed by Wilma Artistic Director Blanka Zizka and using the same company of actors.

The Bearded Ladies Cabaret is teaming up with Bearded Extension Dito van Reigersberg on an all-musical, all-queer version of the cult classic film Mommie Dearest.

In a continued outpouring of solidarity among a giant consortium of the American theater's artistic directors, more than 30 additional artistic directors have signed the open letter that was issued yesterday in support of Ari Roth, following his recent dismissal from the Jewish Community Center in Washington, D.C., where he has served as Artistic Director of Theater J for the past 18 years.

In an unprecedented display of solidarity among a giant consortium of the American theater's artistic directors, an open letter has been issued in support of Ari Roth, following his recent dismissal from the Jewish Community Center in Washington, D.C., where he has served as Artistic Director of Theater J for the past 18 years. The letter, released earlier today represents the views of top theater brass from coast-to-coast, who believe that his dismissal was an act of politically motivated censorship in retaliation for Roth's choice to produce and publicly defend challenging and provocative work.

After the highly acclaimed production of Becky Shaw in the 2009/10 season The Wilma Theater is thrilled to be producing its second Gina Gionfriddo play-Rapture, Blister, Burn directed by UArts Ira Brind School of Theater Director Joanna Settle. When celebrity professor Catherine reunites with her best friends from graduate school, now a married couple with kids living in a New England college town, she begins to rethink the choices she's made over the past twenty years. As these three friends navigate their new relationships with each other, feelings of regret begin to arise. Catherine's homecoming leads to shifting dynamics and a larger look at how much (or little) the lives of women have evolved over the past century, while examining subjects ranging from pornography to Betty Friedan to slasher films. Susan Smith Blackburn Prize-winner Gina Gionfriddo offers a fresh take on timeless questions by wittily juxtaposing feminist theories with messy human desires.

After the highly acclaimed production of Becky Shaw in the 2009/10 season The Wilma Theater is thrilled to be producing its second Gina Gionfriddo play-Rapture, Blister, Burn directed by UArts Ira Brind School of Theater Director Joanna Settle. When celebrity professor Catherine reunites with her best friends from graduate school, now a married couple with kids living in a New England college town, she begins to rethink the choices she's made over the past twenty years. As these three friends navigate their new relationships with each other, feelings of regret begin to arise. Catherine's homecoming leads to shifting dynamics and a larger look at how much (or little) the lives of women have evolved over the past century, while examining subjects ranging from pornography to Betty Friedan to slasher films. Susan Smith Blackburn Prize-winner Gina Gionfriddo offers a fresh take on timeless questions by wittily juxtaposing feminist theories with messy human desires.

Watch out! Richard Schechner returns, armed with another series of shocks and surprises: the world premiere of 'Imagining O' at Peak Performances, today, September 10, through September 13.

Watch out! Richard Schechner returns, armed with another series of shocks and surprises: the world premiere of "Imagining O" at Peak Performances, September 10-13. Transforming the notoriously erotic French novel "Story of O" into a multi-site, immersive production, the 80 year-old director's most recent work promises to reaffirm Peak's commitment to the ultra and outre challenge, and the director's reputation for creating uncomfortable joy in his audiences. The show opens the Kasser Theater's 10th anniversary season.

The 2014 Zelda Fichandler award offers an unrestricted grant of $5000 to an outstanding director or choreographer who is making an exceptional contribution to the arts landscape through theatre work in the Eastern U.S. Directors living and working in Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Vermont, Virginia, Washington D.C., West Virginia are eligible.

The Zelda Fichandler award presents an unrestricted grant of $5,000 to an outstanding director or choreographer making an exceptional contribution to the national arts landscape through theatre work in a region.

Stage Directors and Choreographers Foundation (SDCF) opens the nomination process for The Zelda Fichandler Award on May 14, 2014. This award presents an unrestricted grant of $5000 to an outstanding director or choreographer making an exceptional contribution to the national arts landscape through theatre work in a region. In 2014, the award will honor achievement in the Eastern region, comprised of Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Vermont, Virginia, Washington D.C., West Virginia.